Oil States v. Greene’s Energy Group is the “most important intellectual property case to come before the Supreme Court in many years.” At issue is whether a decision made within the US Patent and Trademark Office can displace one rendered by a federal district court.
Writing in the Federalist Society blog, Epstein argues that the reforms of the 2011 America Invents Act (AIA) diminish the value of patents by, among other things, claiming patents are not private rights (protected under common law) but public rights (in which governmental, nonjudicial entities have much discretion and decision-making authority).
The underlying constitutional issue is whether, by legislation, the AIA-created administrative body (the Patent Trial and Appeal Board) can take patent litigation jurisdiction away from the courts and grant dispute resolution power to a government body. Epstein cites a series of court decisions that secure the private rights nature of patents and copyright and, thus, should dominate the public rights nature embedded in AIA.
He concludes by arguing further that AIA’s procedures violate due process.
